Original Cast Albums - decisions
Original Cast Albums - decisions
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/06
Original Cast Albums - decisions#0
Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:26pm
I can understand why non-singers are picked for broadway casts (acting, dancing, name recognition), but on the cast albums, is it that really that hard to get a take that is in tune?
I just bought the CD of "Promises, Promises." I love the music, but some of the singing makes my fillings ache. The people responsible certainly can hear this too. Why do they put it out that way?
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#1
Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:47pm
I know it is financial but I cringe when shows that should be on 2 LP's or CD's wind up as single ones. Some that come to mind are:
Inner City
Follies
Chess
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/06
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#2
Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:02pm
My Chess set has 2 CDs. ( I had to say it )
It may be a concept album with Elaine Page and the London Symphony.
The Rent Movie CD is missing songs.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#3
Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:17pmCouldn't agree with you more about Promisies, Promises. It's one of my favorite scores, but the recording is pretty painful sometimes. I with they'd release the London cast with Betty Buckley, dammit.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#4
Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:24pmWhat's funny about the London cast recording is Buckley is doing a Jill O'Hara impression, almost down to the phrasing. And Tony Roberts doesn't have the "oooomph" Orbach gives to it. The OBC is the winner for me.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#5
Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:45pmKing David, what bothers me incredibly however is the 2-Disc recordings of Phantom or Sunset when they cut from a two-disc version. Why on earth do you need to abridge it unnecessarily?
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#6
Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:48pmThe Rent movie CD has all of the songs that are in the movie, plus a few that aren't.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#7
Posted: 7/20/06 at 5:02pmYes, but it is missing songs that were in the Broadway production that were cut for the film.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#8
Posted: 7/20/06 at 5:20pmI know. And they were cut long before filming started. There was no reason to even think about recording them, so it's not really missing anything. It's not as if there are songs in the movie that aren't on the CD.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#9
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:00pm
A couple of things to consider about (earlier) cast recordings...
1) It's my opinion that Broadway producers and directors were more concerned about finding good actors with strong stage "personalities" that were also completely right for the roles, as opposed to finding great singers who could passably act, with far less charisma. That seems to be what we're getting more of these days. They have better singing voices (arguably) today, but lack the real star quality from a generation or two ago. If you doubt this, check how many recent Broadway stars have made the jump to film or TV successfully, or had substantial lasting theatre careers in the past 20 years. The count is VERY low by comparison to the Broadway stars who made the jump from 25-50 years ago.
2) Cast recordings used to have to be recorded all in one day, per the established rules with Actors' Equity. Each performer was paid a week's salary for every day they worked on a cast recording. Producers would get around this rule by paying the musicians overtime, and having the cast do a "marathon" recording session, sometimes going as long as 18-20 hours, just to get it all down. So when you ask, why didn't they do extra takes, often times, they simply couldn't. They had to either use what they recorded, or risk cutting another song because they were running out of time. I believe this (ugly) rule changed with the cast recording of Edwin Drood. It took them 3 days to do the OBCR, and it almost forced them to close the show as a result. And this was a hit show! This "marathon" rule no longer applies, and there have been subsequent deals worked out with Actors' Equity as to appropriate compensation for cast recordings.
These are two reasons why you might hear "sub-par" singing on older cast recordings.
Another reason to ponder has to do with "artistic priorities." I don't believe they CARED as much if the singer had perfect pitch back then. They cared if they sold the song well, or understood how to interpret it with the right feeling and emotion. I personally agree that this is FAR more important than pitch. And at the same time I acknowledge that singers such as Gertrude Lawrence and Jerry Orbach were definitely under pitch on many of their recordings. It didn't bother theatre audiences as much back then as it does today.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#10
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:04pmWhy, exactly, do they pay the actors a week's worth of pay for one day of recording? I think that is a little insane. I think they should get paid so much an hour or something.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#11
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:06pm
WAS insane. They don't do it anymore, as I said.
And I'm not sure what the monetary compensation is these days, but it changed significantly after the "Drood" recording.
We're in a different age now, as well. There were only a few record companies back then who produced ANY recordings. You didn't have these "micro labels" (like "micro brewed" beers now) that would produce recordings. There are a lot more options out there now for producing, recording and distributing any artist or artists.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#12
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:08pmBut they DO still do that with the musicians, don't they?
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#13
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:10pm
I thought that rule about cast recordings was still in effect with Equity. I could be wrong.
And it was my understandnig that a week's pay was the compensation was because the performers got no royalty money from the sale of the album.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#14
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:11pmNow you see why it is so hard to get a cast album of a flop.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#15
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:11pmNow you see why it is so hard to get a cast album of a flop.
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#16
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:14pm
The musicians have always gotten their union compensation, which included overtime if they were called upon to do it.
As far as the "one week" rule, I'm sure it was because they received no further royalties from the sales... but I could have sworn the rule changed. I know they don't do those marathon sessions anymore. And they take multiple days to do cast album recordings now (if needed). My info came from people who were singing on these recordings. They were the ones who told me they don't do that anymore. I never felt "bold" enough to ask them how or what they were getting paid though.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#17
Posted: 7/20/06 at 7:20pm
Ah, ok.
But yes...it's easy to see why shows go unrecorded, why ticket prices are so high, yadda yadda yadda.
Don't get me started.
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/06
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#18
Posted: 7/21/06 at 8:38amThanks, best12bars. I noticed that recently musicians have their names in the credits on cast recordings! They still don't get credit for movie music when the assistant to the caterer does!?!?!?
re: Original Cast Albums - decisions#19
Posted: 7/21/06 at 10:14amAnd even with all the changes that have allowed us more "technically perfect" recordings, there is something about the "one-take, live" nature of the oder cast recordings that creates much more a sense of what actually happens in the theatre. And I find them far preferable to what we get today.
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